The Citadel
by Steviedude12
Summary: Everyone has a story, no matter who they are. The one whose story I focus on today is one that not many people really know, his is a story of pain, love, and betrayal. I suck at summaries but this is My First Fanfic R&R!
1. Prologue

**Edit: This is my first fanfic. Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**_Bold Italics - The narrator_**

_Italics - Thought_

**_The village of Durmoost was the first to fall to the dreaded citadel empire. One that was prejudice against all mages. The leader of the citadel empire, the Grand Inquisitor, imprisoned all the adults and trained all the children as warriors, encouraging them to forget the ways of the mage. This was their ultimate mistake. _**

A man wearing a dark blue robe swiftly but silently made his way down the stairs. In the cupboard under a jar of jelly lay a book, snatching the book he tip-toed past the lounging room where a woman lay sleeping. Slowly he opened the door and went out sidling on the side of the house he looked out to see if anyone was there. Satisfied that the coast was clear, he ran to the village gate. Easily scaling it he jumped down on the other side. Landing in the nearest bush he hid there for awhile more to make sure that none were near and ran again into the cover of the trees. He ran through the forest at top speeds until finally he stopped at a clearing in the forest.

Again scanning the horizon for people he set the book down on a nearby rock. He opened it to reveal writing in an indecipherable language with images of fire, ice, water and earth. After creating a force field around the area, he took out a wooden stave with a crystal attached to the top. Then he began reading out of the book and did many great acts of wizardry, some only heard in legends. All the animals in the forest flocked to him in droves, watching the great feats of wizardry. Nothing could be heard but the gentle muttering of the cloaked man as he ignited fires, blew strong winds, levitated rock and conjured up water. Suddenly the silence was broken by a yell.

"Someone is using wizardry!". 

The animals, as if snapping out of their trance, ran from the clearing, leaving their strange behavior behind.

_Impossible, how could they have sensed my wizardry while this barrier is up. _

Abandoning the question he quickly closed the book and let down the force field. Stowing it in his robes he ran from the clearing at lightening speeds using his mana for a burst of energy.

"I got another reading, this thing is going fast!" the soldier yelled. 

_They must be able to sense me by my mana._

Cutting off all mana usage he scaled a tree and hid in the top. Below he saw some of the inquisitor guards in their usual uniform, silver with golden trim with the emblem of the citadel on their chest.

"I swear the reading just disappeared right around here" one said.

"Well obviously your mana radar is busted" said the other. 

_So that's how they knew I was here._

"Yours wasn't even on, how would you know" he said.

The man waited for the bickering to stop and when finally they got back to their posts he jumped from the tree. Suddenly an arm shot out of the darkness and grabbed him. It was the guard who had claimed to see the mana reading.

"I knew it" he said, a grin spreading upon his face. T

he mage struggled trying to stray from his grip but he held on tight. "Oh no you're not going anywhere" he said. As he opened his mouth to shout out to his friend the mage kneed him in the stomach causing him to double over in pain. As he bent over he released his grip on the mage allowing him to chop his neck, rendering him unconscious. He applied a quick incantation making him lose his memory of the encounter. Reluctantly he grabbed hold of the mana radar and ran in the direction of the village. When he finally got back to the house the lights were on. He walked into the house to see a woman with unusually frazzled brown hair, and eyes frantic with worry.

"Ashir, I'm so glad you're safe" she said throwing her arms around him.

"What's wrong Zadra?" he said.

"We have to leave, the Citadel just put out a warrant for your arrest" she said, tears pouring out of her eyes at an alarming rate.

"On what charges" I said.

"Wizardry, they know" she said.

* * *

"I told you Zadra you can't come with me" said Ashir.

"Why can't I come!" she yelled tears pouring from her eyes.

"Because you deserve better than this!" he yelled back.

She turned away, tears falling more frequently from her eyes. Ashir walked over to her and lifted her chin up

"I love you" he said "But I can't come back until I take down the Citadel".

She threw herself into his arms, resting her head on his chest.

"I hope one day we can meet again" he said and then disappeared from her arms.

She fell to her knees put her head in her hands and let lose another torrent of tears.

Ashir appeared far from Durmoost but close enough to see the citadel of Durmoost, where the grand inquisitor resides. It was the definition of fortified, surrounded by a moat teeming with Hydra, windows where archers were perched ready to destroy any threat. Despite this Ashir still looked towards the citadel and took a solid vow that one day he would return to take down the Citadel Empire.

He sat down and allowed himself to get his bearings; from what he sensed he was in the outer reaches of the Citadel and there was a border guard so it wouldn't be easy getting out. He set down his map of Lore.

_If I was able to get out I would need a good place to go, preferably someplace where I could find help_ he thought. He scanned the map and his eyes fell to Battleon. The newly built city was teeming with adventurers. All were anxious to do something exciting, that was something Ashir could give them. _But first things first I need to find a way to get out of the Citadel Empire_ he thought. Looking again to the map his eyes fell to the border city of Kraven. _I wonder if I could get him to help me._ And so he put on his cloak and began his trek to the border city of Kraven.


	2. The Road to Kraven

**My first update I'm so proud of me, and since I'm working on the third chapter already that can only mean one thing, MY PLOT BUNNIES ARE HATCHIN! So with that in mind Read, Review and Enjoy**

_Italics - Thought_**  
**

As Ashir neared the village, he heard metal clattering and large footsteps. He jumped into the nearest bush just as two inquisitor guards walked into the sandy hollow and sat in the shade of the large oak tree. One of them nervously looked around, seeming afraid of something.

"Are y-you sure we should be doing this Dante?" he said

"And why not Jay, we've been working our asses off all day" said Dante "Tell me one good reason we don't deserve a break"

Jay pulled an apple out of his vest and took a gigantic bite out of it, just seeing the apple sent waves of pain through Ashir's stomach reminding him that he hadn't eaten many decent meals since he left for Kraven. He hadn't eaten much except for small game that he had burnt in an attempt to cook it and a few nuts and berries he had found along the way. Fortunately he was near Kraven where he could grab some food before he moved on to his task. The inquisitor guards patrolling around the area confirmed that notion.

Dante offered the apple to Jay who shook his head. Shrugging, he bit another chunk off of the apple.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take" Dante said "For the past day we've been worked non-stop"

"I'm sure that the empire has their r-reasons" Jay stuttered.

"The hell with that, no one should have the right to work us this hard!"

"Don't say something like that out loud someone could hear you"

Dante sighed and took another bite of his apple.

Ironically just then another soldier stomped into the hollow. He was a burly fellow, much larger than the two inquisitor guards. But this was no inquisitor guard, this was an inquisitor captain. Unlike inquisitor guards, they wore a badge on their chest signifying their positions as captain, they sported a hood and instead of the standard spears given to each inquisitor guard they carried a sword-like polearm decorated with gold.

"What are you two slackers doing!" he yelled.

The two inquisitor guards suddenly snapped to attention.

"Taking a little break I see" he said.

Dante gulped and a bead of sweat dripped down his face, Jay whimpered and began praying to the gods to get him out of this alive.

"W-we were just scouting the area" stuttered Jay.

The inquisitor captain's eyes narrowed

"You disgust me, now get back to your position!" he yelled

Dante and Jay slowly backed away from the large captain.

"Now!" he barked.

They broke into a run tripping over themselves as they went, leaving the captain laughing so hard he cried. Once he got rid of his hysterical laughter the captain began to walk off in the direction of the village. _Seems like I'll have to be even more careful from here on out. _Waiting a few minutes to give the captain a fairly good head start, Ashir then got out of the bush and continued his trek to Kraven.

Surprisingly the rest of the trip went by very smoothly. He reached the village gates long after the sun had set and the moon was high in the beautiful night sky, accompanied by millions of stars. The stars reminded him of happier times. Although the Citadel Empire had always hated mages, the previous grand inquisitor was very relaxed and nonchalant, while his son was ruthless and greedy. The stars brought Ashir back to a time when he could lay down on the grass with Zadra with no worries. The thought made him tear up as he wondered if he would ever be able to lay down in the grass with her again.

He was torn from his thoughts by the voice of the sentry guard.

"Who goes there!" he yelled.

_I forgot about the sentry guard, how am I going to get myself out of this._

"I'm just a traveling adventurer passing through" said Ashir.

"Well you'll have to come back in the morning, we don't let anyone in or out of the village this late"

"Okay, sorry for causing a disturbance"

"For future reference just remember to get here before nightfall"

"Thanks and again I'm extremely sorry for the disturbance"

Ashir then walked away back into the pine forest. _Looks as I if I'll have to call it a night. _Awhile into the forest he began to hear the faint sounds of a fire crackling and the smell of cooked meat. He then followed the smell to a small clearing. A cloaked figure was tending the fire, the half eaten cooked meat at his side. Ashir's stomach growled, after all he hadn't eaten a decent meal in almost 2 days. The cloaked figure turned to Ashir and gestured for him to come. Reluctantly he walked over to the cloaked figure.

"Hey there" said the man.

He sounded fairly young, about Ashir's age if not younger.

"Hi" Ashir replied.

He couldn't stop him self from staring at the juicy, warm meat lying on a plate, the cloaked man followed his gaze to the food then smiled.

"I take it you want some food?" he asked

"Well I wouldn't want to impose, you can finish it"

"No I insist, I'm full anyway"

Hesitantly he picked the meat off of the plate and took a small bite. Once the sensation of flavor hit his tongue he was reminded of how hungry he was and tore through the meat like a rabid animal. Once the meat was gone, Ashir thanked the man for the meal.

"By the way what's your name?" the cloaked man asked.

"My name is Ashir what's yours"

"Landon, nice to meet you"

"So what brings you here Landon, we don't usually have many visitors in the Citadel Empire?"

"Well I"m a traveling adventuring" he replied "And it seems this place was in sore need of one"

"How so?" Ashir asked.

"You couldn't imagine how many people came up to me pleading for help it was ... overwhelming" he said sadly

"So how much longer are you planning on staying here"

"Actually I'm making the trip back to Battleon"

"What a coincidence I'm making my way to Battleon too"

"I could use some company on my journey wanna come with"

"Definitely, but lets rest for now"

Nodding in agreement, Landon laid down in the grass and used his cloak as a blanket. Feeling confident that he would make his way to Battleon, Ashir also laid down in the grass and they both both quickly fell asleep until the dawn of the next day.


End file.
